Like something from an American history text, Robert E. Harris saunters into town atop his steadfast steed, Sundance, carrying only a weathered Bible and some religious pamphlets. Except for his white shirt, he is adorned in black: frock coat, pants, string tie and a 10-gallon Stetson. Dismounting, he turns to several astonished folks and begins preaching a simple Christian message. He does this every day there is good weather here in the mountain towns of western North Carolina.

Like something from an American history text, Robert E. Harris saunters into town atop his steadfast steed, Sundance, carrying only a weathered Bible and some religious pamphlets. Except for his white shirt, he is adorned in black: frock coat, pants, string tie and a 10-gallon Stetson. Dismounting, he turns to several astonished folks and begins preaching a simple Christian message. He does this every day there is good weather here in the mountain towns of western North Carolina.

The closing of Armco's National Supply Co. today after nearly 75 years of manufacturing oil drilling equipment and industrial steel products at Western Avenue and Carson Street marks the final chapter of the heavy manufacturing industry in Torrance. A quieter, cleaner chapter is expected to begin next year when the cavernous corrugated steel buildings are demolished for what is hoped will someday be an industrial park with businesses that emit little or no noise, smoke or fumes.

Considered the last of the circuit-riding preachers, Robert E. Harris says of his sorrel mount, Sundance, "We're co-laborers. The impact would be nil if the horse wasn't there." Harris, garbed in Western boots, black frock coat, string tie and a black 10-gallon Stetson, allowed that his get-up also catches attention. Both "the horse and the outfit are the come-on," he said. "In this day and time to see a man dressed like this on a horse is like seeing a man from Mars.

Nestled near the bridge that crosses West Coast Highway at Newport Boulevard is an inconspicuous old restaurant. For generations of Coast Highway travelers, this barn-like little building has stood out as a bulwark of permanence against an otherwise unrelenting tide of seafront development and change. It was at this very spot that John Wayne used to regularly eat his steaks. Humphrey Bogart once frequented these environs.

September 23, 1989 | SUSAN CHRISTIAN, Susan Christian is a regular contributor to Orange County Life.

It was hard to believe that in just four hours, Julie Greenfield would be serving six dinner guests a meal fit for Julia Childs. It was 3 p.m. and Greenfield had just finished straining six crates of fresh raspberries--not once but three times--for her souffle's sauce. In the process, bright red puree had speckled the floor, the counters and the cook.

With an Orange County citizens committee set to recommend a route today for the state's first toll road, county officials say factors beyond the committee's control make the San Joaquin Hills Corridor between Irvine and San Juan Capistrano the likely choice. But the same officials say it also is likely that toll roads eventually will be built in the Foothill Corridor between north Tustin and San Clemente and in the Eastern Corridor between Yorba Linda and East Irvine.